ADF climbed out of tank twice now

[NiaCas]

One of my two frogs has climbed out of his tank twice now. The first time, yesterday, I didn't even hear him. I just felt something on my foot, looked down, and saw a little frog! I quickly put him back in the tank (which is cycled, btw) and checked the water parameters. The temp was 78, ph was 7.2, nitrite was 0, nitrate was 5, and ammonia was slightly up - a slight greenish tint to the yellow water, but definitely not so green as .25. Maybe .1 or so, probably from a frozen bloodworm or two that I missed when removing uneaten food from the tank, but anything over 0 is bad, so I did a water change and cleaned the sand. A few hours later I checked the water again and ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate were 0, temp was still 78, ph was still 7.2. All seemed well, but the next day I was sitting at my desk and heard a plastic bag rustle right by my feet. I assumed it was a roach, but I looked down, and there was the same little frog! I quickly put him back and checked the water AGAIN and all was the same. All fine. All good.

It's the same frog that has gotten out both times. I can tell by the color. He's darker than my other frog. What else could be wrong? What else can I check for? Or does he just REALLY like me? lol

I've blocked off the openings in the tank lid which are built in where the filter is supposed to go (probably where he's climbing out) and where food is supposed to be dropped in for fish. I can just make a new lid, no problem, but I'm more concerned about WHY this frog wants to be out. He's been in this tank for months with no problems, and he doesn't seem sick. Any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated!

[SailAwayAK]

ACF and ADF frogs are escape artists. They will find the smallest spaces to squeeze their way through! ANY opening is found and used. I have had it happen plenty of times. Heck, one of mine used to love squeezing his body between the glass and the filter and just sit there.

Once I found my cat pawing at one of the frogs who had made it more that 30 feet through my obstacle course of a living room. Keep in mind that if the frog has been out of water for a long time, it can atrophy the muscles. Frogs that are dried out can't be placed back into deep water they can easily drown. Yeah. Been there, done that. I bawled. I found out later about the atrophy.

[NiaCas]

Wow! Thanks for the heads up! I made the tank the frogs are in now out of a couple 3 gallon tanks, so it's about 9 inches tall with just under 8 inches of water in it. More horizontal space than vertical, but I was going to put them in a larger tank. I'm currently converting a few tanks to dirted planted tanks and wanted to put the frogs in one of them, but it's about 14 inches deep, maybe a bit more. Any idea how long until the escapee frog can go in deeper water again? I did notice that although he usually like to hide under his driftwood on the bottom of the tank, he's been spending much more time than usual on the surface plants and on a platform I have in the tank about 4 inches below the surface (I want moss where I want it, so if I have to make a platform for it then so be it lol), so maybe he needed some recovery time? He was pretty dry the first time he escaped. I was on the opposite side of the room from where his tank was when he climbed onto my foot! He had to make it out of the tank, down off the tank and tank stand, over some laundry, and over about 16 feet to where I was! Looks like he's shedding right now too.

I'm really sorry about your frog That's so sad! It sux when something happens to our pets that we didn't even know COULD happen :/

[SailAwayAK]

Just give them a few hours in shallow water so they can hydrate and they will be good to go. It doesn't take long for them to wake up and get going.

I had a frog who mostly spent her time on the surface hidden in the plants. She just loved it there. Then again Ive had others that like to hide down deep. I think it's just a personality thing.